Dumbledore's Announcement
Several minutes after Flitwick’s patronus departs, several members of the Hogwarts staff, including most of the professors come running. Behind them is a handful of students. Harry notes a few of Justin’s and a few of Padma’s friends before Hermione slams into him at full force, her cries startling him out of his daze.
Moments later, he’s pushed back again as Ron, only paces behind Hermione, wraps himself shamelessly around them both.
“We thought you died!” Hermione yells and then her voice trembles as she whispers, “it was the war all over again. Except you weren’t coming back. You weren’t coming back...”
“I’m sorry,” Harry breaths out, the fresh air harsh on his throat.
“Mate, what happened?” Ron asks. His eyes are red and puffy.
“I don’t know. It just took longer than we expected. I’m surprised the gillyweed lasted so long,” Harry says.
“Harry! The professors have been working around the clock casting time spells on the lake to give you three a chance. Illegal time spells, Harry. They had to get official permission from the minister! But they were getting less effective. Harry, they were going to stop working. They were going to stop...” Hermione cries in his ear.
Every hair on Harry’s arms stands at full attention.
“What day is it?” Harry asks breathlessly.
“It’s Sunday, Harry.” Ron’s voice cracks. The second task had started on a Monday. In the corner of his eyes, he catches Snape leading Malfoy away.
Harry doesn’t get to enjoy a moment of normalcy when he’s released from the hospital wing. Because at his very next meal, which happens to be dinner, Dumbledore is once again addressing the student body.
Harry wants to use this time to ask questions. Hermione and Ron weren't allowed to visit him right away and after he fell asleep, he didn't wake until it was 'time to be released.'
Harry has questions for his friends though. For example, how long was Malfoy also hospitalized? Because Harry knows Malfoy was in the hospital wing, after having clearly gotten worse. Harry had followed the trail of petals all the way to the Great Hall. The trail stops about half way to the Slytherin table, about where Pansy must have noticed them.
"Harry!" Hermione says. Ron waves because his mouth is full.
"Hey."
"How are you?"
"Fine. How's Malfoy?"
"What have you heard?"
"Nothing. But he was in the hosptial wing with me."
"No he wasn't."
"His petals were. What aren't you telling me?"
"Apparently, you know more than we do. Maybe he was getting a pain potion. He's been in class this whole time."
And then they both quiet down because Dumbledore casts a silencing spell.
Harry has watched Dumbledore face a Death Eater run ministry takeover of Hogwarts and three separate assassination attempts, but he has never seen Dumbledore look as distraught as he does tonight. As Harry takes his seat, he figures this announcement is why he was released from the hospital wing. Because if he’s really honest, he still feels pretty awful from his stint in the lake.
For the first time since Voldemort had been defeated, Harry’s having nightmares. He wakes up in a cold sweat, unable to remember them. Though he supposes this was a long time coming. He was surprised it took this long for his trauma to begin tearing at him again.
“I regret to inform you that the events of the last week are a grave omen indeed. In troubling times we are called to be brave, kind, clever and resourceful. That is why we must join together, not as four houses, not as one school but as witches and wizards, as wix who rise to meet their fates.
“I am afraid that the remainder of this Tri-Wizard Tournament will be a difficult and dangerous path forward for all. Still, we must continue onward. As the holiday season approaches us, I must inform you that due to the nature of what our champions are tasked with, those of you who play a primary role in the tournament will need to spend your holiday with us.
“It is therefore forbidden to leave without proving that you do not play such a role in our tournament. For those of you who are able to do so, I advise that you take this time to celebrate with your families and to discuss with them whether it be wise that you return before the conclusion of this year’s festivities.
“Finally, for those that plan to attend, the third task will take place shortly after we return. And though it is standard practice to host a ball celebrating the conclusion of the tournament in the spring, be advised that scheduling may change at any notice, should it be advantageous to do so.
“If you have any questions, please reach out to your Head of House. For now, that is all.”
Dumbledore’s announcement has the entire school in a frenzy, particularly the younger students. Everyone is free to leave for Christmas except the four champions … and Malfoy’s beloved. Who could be anyone. There’s only way to know whether it is you and that is to ask.
Apparently a letter was sent out to parents explaining the situation because owls now swarm the Great Hall at nearly every meal. They carry pleas from worried parents and books on the Old Ways. By now, even the most bigoted pureblood witches and wizards are helping Muggleborns with speech, dress and conduct. There is no hate or bitterness in their words, even as they are urging any Muggleborn who can to leave. There simply isn’t room for errors of inexperience in such an unforgiving environment.
It’s no secret that those who plan to leave school grounds for holiday are unlikely to return until the tournament is over. It’s also no secret that there is safety in leaving and danger in staying, though just how much is still a bit fuzzy.
For all the pomp and circumstance that they’ve been deluding themselves with, the fact remains that nearly all involved in this sham are teenagers. A mob of hormonal teenagers susceptible to every flight of fancy and passing gossip. Despite how bad everyone knows things have gotten and how bad they suspect it will get, the spectacle has made Draco Malfoy a populate crush among many young witches and quite a few young wizards.
The younger years speak of him with reverence in their voices. They paint him as a tragic, broken and brokenhearted boy. They talk about how romantic it is that he is so in love that he grows flowers in his heart for somebody who wouldn’t even give him a chance.
“See?” they say “his love is true. Nothing can change his mind; he can’t even stop loving her to save his own life. That’s real love.” Some of them claim that they want to save him. Harry doesn’t blame them too much. Draco does look tragic and weirdly soft. Certainly far more sympathetic than he used to be.
“There is little risk,” Professor Sprout explains to her younger students in a greenhouse filled with black and white roses emitting a strange aura, “in presenting Mr. Malfoy with a rose, unless your feelings toward him might be true love or true hate.”
The out pour of new information about Draco’s situation has essentially stopped. It’s not Draco’s fault that he hasn’t given much else away. Lavender has explained that once things reach a certain point, the besotted should only speak about the situation formally. And the fact remains that those who approach him nowadays seek short and easy conversations that pose little risk to either speaker. He’s not given much opportunity.
It’s unlikely that Draco is in love with anyone below fifth year; he’s hinted as much even though he’s yet to officially declare it. It’s also unlikely anyone that young feels strongly enough about him to risk harm. But it’s still a big decision.
“Offer a white rose if you might consider a courtship with Mr. Malfoy should you be his beloved,” Sprout tells them, “offer a black rose if you would not. It is important to be honest, a lie will not end well for any involved. But you must consider your words carefully. Craft them in accordance with the Old Ways and offer them only if they might be well-received.”
If this were any other Tri-Wizard Tournament, told to him as an old tale rather than his reality, Harry might laugh at what’s happening. The ancient magic is both extremely particular and unbearably dramatic.
If Malfoy rejects someone who is truly in love with him, the disease can spread. Since the confession will be public, everyone will know Malfoy is new victim's beloved. Not that it matters. Such clear rejection will likely kill the newly besotted within days regardless.
If someone other than the beloved rejects Malfoy by presenting a black rose, that’s not so bad. But it’s still there: the risk the disease spreads another way. If the confessor is too similar to the beloved or mishandles the rejection, the ancient magic could claim them both and besot another in Malfoy’s place. Anyone with any sort of romantic feelings towards another could be chosen.
And if the confessor is Malfoy’s beloved, well there are a lot of ways that can go wrong and exactly one way it doesn’t.
Love and hate are dangerous. Mild curiosity, on the other hand, poses little risk. So the mildly curious begin asking Draco Malfoy out at meals, and Quidditch games and sometimes by interrupting his classes. They offer white roses. Nobody dares present a black rose.
Harry, like all the 6th years, is often present at these confessions. The script is graciously short and even with all the context behind what’s happening, it’s pretty amusing to watch, especially when Snape allows a first year to interrupt his lesson without as much as an eye roll.
“Might I offer you a gift, Draco Malfoy?”
“Have you thought long over it?”
“I have.”
“Then you may.”
Malfoy takes care to examine the rose before he takes it, as though he’s considering it every time. So far though, his response is always the same.
“I’m flattered by your offer but I must decline it.” As soon as he says these words, the rose dematerializes into a golden light at his touch, proving the confessor is not his beloved. This is usually where the confessor giggles, either out of amusement or relief.
“I thank you for your time.”
“And I you for your consideration.”
It started off slow at first with just a few brave souls a day. There are several younger students who were worried that their passing infatuation might be love. But their parents don’t stop writing, the older students don’t stop insisting and the teachers don’t stop explaining.
Eventually, Malfoy rejects every wix younger than fifteen in the school who is willing to publicly admit they might find him even remotely attractive. Unfortunately, a large percentage of the school seems to be either unwilling to offer a formal rejection or secretly in love with Malfoy.
The remainder are made up of disinterested older students that are genuinely afraid Malfoy might secretly be in love with them. And teachers of course, but it seems this all largely out of their hands by this point.
This a problem because as December begins, the castle starts changing. The stair cases grow less friendly, tripping hazards popup out of nowhere and pretty soon students who don’t follow the etiquette perfectly start finding themselves riddled with conspicuous bruises. Some even attempt to break the rules enough to be kicked out but it seems like a fairly difficult thing to accomplish because nobody has yet to achieve it.
Tensions run high as vines start growing along the interior walls. Nobody is able to leave school grounds, not even for a bit of fresh air, without proving they are not Malfoy’s beloved. Day by day the school feels less like a place of magic and more like an enchanted prison.
The confessions slow to a near stop. Instead of multiple a day, the confessions are sporadic with only a few a week, as the last few students desperate to go home make their attempts. These confessions don’t go as smoothly as the early ones did. The shy students stutter and stall as they confess and sometimes get the words a bit wrong. When it’s all said and done, they manage to get through the steps nonetheless and then there is one less person to worry over.
Malfoy continues to grow sicker and Harry watches him, unsure of what he can do to fix this. Because it needs fixing. He is no longer hiding the petals he coughs up. They come far more frequently than ever before and it would seem that Malfoy's body has adapted to the bizarre floral invasion because they seem to come more easily now.
Harry tells himself it’s good that Malfoy’s not struggling to expel the flowers but he knows this means the disease is progressing. Its easy for Harry to know if he's somewhere that Malfoy recently was because the ground is always littered with petals. The besotted – Draco – (Hermione said it helped to think of him by his first name) is usually too disoriented to collect them all and it's become too much for Draco's friends.
There is a good chance that this all ends in disaster and a large part of the student body will be forced to partake in all the consequences that come with that.
With little time left before Holidays, Hermione corners Ron and Harry in a secluded corridor shortly before curfew to explain her solution to this problem.
It’s clear that all the public proposals are taking a toll on Draco, even if they are mostly handled by the book. The Hanahaki is getting worse and talking of love so frequently and publicly may be the reason. Too many people are approaching Draco with hopes he’ll reject them so they can go home. And too many are right to be afraid to reject him.